Bags of talent.

This beautiful bag was a gorgeous birthday present I was given last week. My good friend (she of the ‘sewcial’s') has been toiling away at hand sewing – yes hand sewing! – every stitch of this bag for me. What’s more she has made this beautiful object totally from recycled fabrics (found in the local charity shops) and pieces of hand felting that we’ve done together. The pale green base fabric has not come out well enough in any of the photo’s;  it doesn’t do it justice. It’s a pre-shrunk wool jumper (third time right apparently) and it’s so soft and cuddly that I could happily take this bag to bed with me! I think she should begin writing her Green Sewing book?!! Maybe…but she will definitely have to stop telling me that she can’t sew!!!!

And if it’s not enough to have such a lovely handmade bag for a present, it was one of two things she’s made me (more tomorrow on the other one!)

I’m a lucky 40 year old to have a friend like her.

House work.

This is the kind of house work that I like. Felted in one piece that folded into four. Embroidery on top with more felted squares stitched on for windows and a few beads and bits for good measure. The roof…well I felted it on too great a heat in the washing machine and it shrunk! I was going to re do it but…well it’s never happened and it’s kinda grown on me anyway now. Quirky i think is the word for that!

Anyway there is a BIG event here at the weekend so now I have to go and continue the real housework.

I felt like felting!

The work avoidance continued this week with the urge to do some felting (what is it with the need to get down with some constructed textiles?!) I love the rewards of felting because you actually get a piece of something to use afterwards, but the process can be laborious and so good company is a necessity (thanks Lucy.)

I decided to go with the flow, something I’m not very good at because I’m a planner! I just opened the bag and took out the first handful of fibres that looked good together, threw it out and felted it. As an encouragement to such out of character behaviour I was rewarded with a bird of paradise (bottom right) amid a garden of drooping branches – all by accident!!  Definantly something to work into later, along that theme and one in the net for unplanned creative spontaneity!